Got Education? How to Remedy Today’s Failed American Dream
Posted: Monday, October 17, 2011
by Jeff Brown
Inner Projection
(Core materials covered in my seminars and workshops)
Today, 33% of all public high school students are dropping out. Of those who graduate high school, upwards of 70% desire to obtain a college degree. The majority do not. And of those who acquire a college degree—of deflated value—within five to ten years 70% are no longer working in a field related to their major. Some of this is acceptable, but there should be much more fulfillment and greater movement toward the American Dream. So what is happening to the dream? First, let’s define what it is or, more specifically, what many believe it is founded in, and then we will get into the particulars.
So what is “education”?
First of all, let’s take a look at what the government defines as education because it is the one that offers or mandates primary and secondary education. Post-secondary, college / university, is a separate issue. Today, the main emphasis is on science and math to supply workers for careers in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math). Since this is government sponsored education, it is about feeding the economies and not about the student, a key point I’ll focus more on later.
In 2006 George Bush announced the American Competitiveness Initiative because the need for scientists, engineers, and mathematicians in the 21st century is great. A main focus of education from the start has been to feed the economies, of course. America needs to make money and compete with other countries for that money via trade to maintain and improve living conditions. And training students in math and science is good, for according to the National Science Foundation (2004), half of all U.S. economic growth in the last 50 years is a result of scientific innovation.
However, what needs to be addressed here is the point that only about 5 percent of the workforce is currently employed in STEM fields. This is something that few if any are talking about, and it creates a major issue for the individuals being educated. Because of the great need for graduates in science and math to feed the economies, opinion leaders and the general public alike see these disciplines as important, of course. Generally, as you can see here, what is taught mostly in public high schools is math and science, and linguistics: three science classes (biology, chemistry, physics; alternatives are physical and life sciences), five math classes (pre-algebra, algebra I, geometry, algebra II, and trigonometry), four English classes, a few from the social sciences (world history, U.S. history, government, economics, and accounting), two years of physical education, and maybe some health and wellness classes.
The needs of the country should not be overlooked or slighted. There is a great push for STEM field workers for good reason, for the Business Roundtable (2005) believes that if current trends continue 90% of all scientists and engineers will reside outside the U.S. And since detail is critical to understanding, or being able to see a clear picture through detail and definition, here are the fourteen most burgeoning fields: Advanced Manufacturing • Aerospace • Automotive • Biotechnology • Construction • Energy • Financial Services • Geospatial Technology • Health care • Homeland Security • Hospitality • Information Technology • Retail • Transportation.
Most of the information above comes from a report that was prepared by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration by Jobs for the Future (2007). To repeat, what the country needs is important, those competent in science and math; however, in an AP-AOL News poll 4 in 10 said they hated math, and I’m sure of the remaining 60% there’s not a lot of love being given complex equations. As a college instructor with over ten years experience, to get a bit of a pulse on students and their majors, over the years I've taken informal polls of incoming freshmen to see how many are math or science majors. Most of the time, if I'm lucky, I get one or two in a class of thirty, which makes sense, for there are currently excessive openings in STEM fields.
However, the question must be asked, of those who don't hate math and can at least stomach it, has learning occurred? And if it has, is it being applied and to what degree? (More on this momentarily) It certainly would be nice to know if our taxes are going to good use, for we are so concerned about our children going to school, but do we really know what they are taking with them upon graduation or our ROI?
For most students, any math beyond arithmetic or a basic understanding of science is generally wasted; for really, there is little chance that even a lukewarm reception of science or math will take one far in a career and / or life. Even if most don't use math in their careers, there are always the pro-math group that will say math is important by arguing, for instance, that one needs higher math to determine the size of one’s garden, the family budget, how to lay out the back patio and so on. The belief that a great number of high school grads will apply higher math (beyond arithmetic) to at-home applications is putting too much faith where only faith may be. Or in other words, not likely. For most people, according to uber-successful marketer Dan Kennedy, are selfish, lazy, and they're right, meaning; once again, they are not motivated to extend themselves mathematically. Just think of the average person you know and how much they use math. You do the math.
Regardless, everyone’s been exposed to math in high school, at least from algebra to geometry to some trigonometry and pre-calculus. But to what end? Is there any surveying going on post-graduation to see how much of what has been learned (and what has been learned?) is used? Needed? Desired? Of practical, everyday, career or personal use to the graduate? Once again, I'm not saying math is unimportant, nor science. What I desire for the student is to have a more realistic understanding of math and science's place in education. And remember, it's the education the student defines, not anyone else. So if it's in the student's definition, fine. If not, fine also. The student decides. I'm basing this in the belief that we live in a free country where we are free to make our own choices.
But let's get back to the student that doesn't hate math and can at least stomach it, has she learned?
Most believe that because a person graduates high school or college that “education” has taken place. However, if the motivation is external, as in main interest being grades, one may get the grade but not learn, a lot of that going on. In addition, if the student is not interested in the material or doesn’t use it, it will dissipate and disappear in a short period of time. The “stickiness” of education or lack thereof is a critical part of the process that few consider. If you’ve seen that show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? you know what I speak of. It’s got little to do with “smarts” but more to do with interest and frequency of use. Even if the student has interest in what she is learning, if it is not used on a regular basis it is forgotten all too quickly. So don’t think that because your child is being exposed to particular subjects that she is getting an education, in the sense that the knowledge is retained and used for the long term. Or, for that matter, that the high school grad knows how to apply the knowledge using the much maligned critical thinking. For most that get an "education" it is study, test, purge with little understanding as why the material has been learned or how to apply it.
To support, I remember going with my wife to classes offered by the state to help our son overcome his delayed-language learning issue. We attended for several months faithfully with about ten other couples. We learned the material, applied it somewhat, and once the class was over soon forgot all about it. And this is the typical response for even people who are mature and responsible, never mind young and inexperienced. I see my seventeen-year-old daughter finishing off assignments like a hot potato, tossing them to the side as soon as possible to be forgotten and never visited again, if she can help it. And being in education for over twelve years, mostly at the college / university level, it is something I often see, hear about, and have been told directly by students.
We can't merely give the inexperienced great knowledge with little to no practical understanding as to its reason for being, first and foremost, nor an understanding of what to do with it all after its been learned and expect them to retain it never mind use it. Basic motivation says that to get someone to go somewhere, first they have to know where they've been, where they're going, and what they need to do when they get there. We are giving knowledge like a gift to never be unwrapped, seen, or utilized. A sad state of affairs indeed.
Getting back to secondary education's main purpose, to entice more to become science and / or math majors, so therein is the injustice of a STEM based education. Many are called but few are chosen to serve. So what of the 90-95% who don't fit the bill?
As I've mentioned before, we should not negate the critical need for students to fill STEM jobs (again, many going unfilled at this minute), but a critical point to consider is that a student may not be made for the STEM fields. And if this is true, trying to insert someone somewhere where they don’t belong is counterproductive, regardless of need. For in the long run, if a person does not like what she is doing, she will not do it for long, not very productively, at least. I and tens of thousands of others have been there. My advice is just don’t do it, nor should students be conditioned to believe that if they don’t fit into the STEM education system that they are dumb or should worry excessively about fitting in.
Unfortunately, this excessive focus on science and math often conditions schools and their leaders to excessively force students to learn or comply with little subjective, logical reasoning. I heard of one case where a student attempted to pass a particular math class some six to seven times to no avail. This is an utter waste of time, for the student either has learning disabilities that must be addressed or no aptitude or interest, so pass the class to what effect?
But there are critical needs for certain general knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are essential for most everyone looking to maintain an income today.
Today’s needs are certainly different from those established during the Age of Enlightenment in the mid-nineteenth century when the concept of a free education for all arose, an education model that is still used today. Early in our country’s history, education meant preparing workers for their place in the nineteenth century economies, along with some understanding of civic pride and responsibility. If you were “educated,” you were considered scholarly—good communication skills, knowledge of the classics, and an understanding of civic responsibilities. But even though the pace of society has increased, needs changed, internationalism a cold, hard fact our education system has changed little.
Today’s classrooms are still focused on dispensing material to passive students who merely accept what is given as necessary and needed in their lives or by those who do little thinking about the why’s and how’s of their education. Some say that these “children” are not ready for such independence, but that is old-school thinking of a slower, less complex time. Things have changed. Back when government first mandated education, free at the point of delivery for everyone, it was all about the Industrial Age, mass production and manufacturing were king. Today, things have changed considerably. Today, creativity is king, that which requires greater student participation and autonomy, for greater creativity, knowledge acquisition and retention, responsibility, accountability, and so forth.
Today, half of all jobs ($1.7 trillion of GDP) come from the creative sector. And with the traditional classroom of listen, study, learn and regurgitate, there is little massaging of critically needed creative and critical thinking skills. Today, many workers are creatively designing for entertainment technology, devices and applications, like never before. Today’s workers can create software for gaming systems, phones, and computers. They can create movies, like those who work at Pixar. But it’s not just animators who work there. Pixar also employs mathematicians and scientists to get those amazing, almost more real than real life pictures. But there's more than just STEM field jobs that require creativity. There is diversity in how one may earn their way today like never before. It is the most exciting time to live and earn.
What are some of those fun, exciting, fulfilling creative jobs?
Life or career coach, Ferrari driving instructor (Really!), chocolatier, magician, disc jockey, sports writer / broadcaster, standup comic (did that myself for five years), cruise ship performer (I roomed with one who has his masters in mathematics from UCLA; makes about $2,000 a show and does dry land corporate gigs too), wedding planner, theme park designer, food or movie critic, interior decorator / designer, PR / marketing, movie / commercial director, meeting and event planner. And the list goes on and on. You can get creative yourself. That’s the beauty of this entrepreneur based society that allows each individual to follow his or her passion to great effect. I have one client who has a passion for organizing. She tells me that when she gets a juicy job, like organizing an entire house, she gets so excited she can’t sleep at night. Now that’s not a job but a passion.
Certainly some of these jobs or careers are not traditional or difficult to make lucrative, but that shouldn't be the reason to stop. I have met and know many very successful people who have given up very good incomes in more traditional jobs to do things they love, like selling wellness products, mustard, and scrap book building techniques. Odd as it may sound, these people moved away from their traditional jobs with very good pay for a good reason; they wanted to follow their passion. Considering that mortality is very brief, it's much better to follow a dream to say it didn't work out instead of should have, could have on your death bed.
But times have changed as well. No longer is it safe merely to go after the money via a job; for the job is dead what with corporate downsizing and an increase in contract and temporary work to cut costs. Today, a worker must become an entrepreneur of one creating great personal value, skills, knowledge, attitude, character to ensure a career in these economically unstable times. Jobs and economic sectors will come and go, but the worker must be a constant. And this is what each person above focused on to obtain their success. It is the only way to survive today. You must get much more than just mere tip-of-the-ice berg knowledge at college, you must build a personal foundation of great depth and breadth. I often say that most college students even upon graduation are still missing 60-70% of critical knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to succeed today.
However, many in the workforce merely pick from the existing job menu. And that’s fine for some, but not for many. Because too many are educated via the external--such as what society deems acceptable, parents, or peers, or even colleges--and not based in intrinsic desires or the individual’s desires and needs, the college student gets into trouble. Some students may just go to the college catalog and choose from there. Or some may attempt to satisfy deficiencies by seeking jobs that will provide respect, prestige, or status. All of these are greatly attempts at failure, for greatest motivation comes internally or intrinsically utilizing one’s unique talents, abilities, gifts to mastermind a plan not merely to gain income but to provide opportunity for growth, challenge, and purpose. According to motivational expert Dan Pink, the following three elements are the main features of motivation and achievement: autonomy (freedom of choice), mastery, and purpose. The worker cannot find long-lasting, sustainable success, happiness, and joy, even, without focusing on the self, or self-interest, in an effort to master a skill to obtain great personal purpose. This can only be found through optimizing freedom of individual choice. How can anyone find mastery or great purpose doing that which one feels lukewarm about never mind hates?
I find it sad that in a creative, problem solving, entrepreneurial based society, the development of entrepreneurial skills in education are virtually ignored. We don't think in these terms because government sanctioned education has conditioned us to think language, math, and science. What of teaching comfort with chaos, dealing with uncertainty, taking risks and enjoying them, confidence, persistence and tenacity, acceptance of failure and the ability to learn from it. Some of these attitudes and skills would also be very useful for employees too, amongst many others that should be taught that are just discovered by chance by most in the workforce, often many years into existing careers.
There's even a popular notion of skipping college education and learning more career specific skills via classes and hands-on training or apprenticing. In many countries in Europe, students co-op their education, roughly 40-70% attend school and work, taking a few years not four or more years to train for a place in the workforce. Far too many students obtain mere knowledge and theory and not critical attitudes and skills needed today. A great place to learn them is in the work environment itself. In addition, there are many higher education experts who see this as a waste (see Bryan Caplan’s statement below).
I worked with an English woman who didn't go to college, who was the VP of MIS and she found it odd that so many Americans have a college degree. Neither I nor most of the programmers I worked with had a college degree and we were making very high end salaries as programmers and programmer / analysts. She said, and I quote, "The only people going to college were specializing in fields like medicine, law, and engineering." The cost of college is twice the rate of inflation. Total loans spent have increased in the last three years by 25% going from $440 to $550. Going to college is no place to find yourself or if you get a degree you damn well be sure that you use it if you're going to spend thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars.
Because of all these issues with education, some are coming up with alternative forms of achievement, such as Tim Ferris, author of The 4 Hour Work Week, who wrote "8 Steps to Getting What You Want Without a Formal Education." He speaks to the fact that most jobs (80%) are obtained via networking and only a small percentage (20%) via adverts in the newspaper and on the Internet. He speaks to not only getting a job but building a career by going to the informal job market or networking, establishing your own credentials via experience and research, that employers require skills not degrees. Ferris is basically saying that unless your need specific training--such as one needs to be a doctor, lawyer, or engineer--there are alternatives.
Here are a few more looks at education issues and the debunking of myths and mis-notions about the same from the experts at The Chronicle of Higher Education from the article "Are Too Many Students Going to College?"
Charles Murray, political scientist and scholar at the American Enterprise Institute: It has been empirically demonstrated that doing well (B average or better) in a traditional college major in the arts and sciences requires levels of linguistic and logical/mathematical ability that only 10 to 15 percent of the nation's youth possess. That doesn't mean that only 10 to 15 percent should get more than a high-school education. It does mean that the four-year residential program leading to a B.A. is the wrong model for a large majority of young people.
Marty Nemko, career counselor based in Oakland, Calif.: All high-school students should receive a cost-benefit analysis of the various options suitable to their situations: four-year college, two-year degree program, short-term career-prep program, apprenticeship program, on-the-job training, self-employment, the military. Students with weak academic records should be informed that, of freshmen at "four year" colleges who graduated in the bottom 40 percent of their high-school class, two-thirds won't graduate even if given eight and a half years. And that even if such students defy the odds, they will likely graduate with a low GPA and a major in low demand by employers. A college should not admit a student it believes would more wisely attend another institution or pursue a non-college postsecondary option. Students' lives are at stake, not just enrollment targets
Richard K. Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity and professor of economics at Ohio University: A large subset of our population should not go to college, or at least not at public expense. The number of new jobs requiring a college degree is now less than the number of young adults graduating from universities, so more and more graduates are filling jobs for which they are academically overqualified.
Bryan Caplan, associate professor of economics at George Mason University: There are two ways to read this question. One is: "Who gets a good financial and/or personal return from college?" My answer: people in the top 25 percent of academic ability who also have the work ethic to actually finish college. The other way to read this is: "For whom is college attendance socially beneficial?" My answer: no more than 5 percent of high-school graduates, because college is mostly what economists call a "signaling game." Most college courses teach few useful job skills; their main function is to signal to employers that students are smart, hard-working, and conformist. The upshot: Going to college is a lot like standing up at a concert to see better. Selfishly speaking, it works, but from a social point of view, we shouldn't encourage it.
Caplan: College attendance, in my view, is usually a drain on our economy and society. Encouraging talented people to spend many years in wasteful status contests deprives the economy of millions of man-years of output. If this were really an "investment," of course, it might be worth it. But I see little connection between the skills that students acquire in college and the skills they'll need later in life.
Murray: A large wage premium for having a bachelor's degree still exists. For everything except degrees in engineering and the hard sciences, I submit that most of that premium is associated with the role of the B.A. as a job requirement instead of anything that students with B.A.'s actually learn. The solution to that injustice—and it is one of the most problematic social injustices in contemporary America—is to give students a way to show employers what they know, not where they learned it and how long it took them. In other words, substitute certifications for the bachelor's degree.
Murray: Who should pay for students to attend college? Ideally, students themselves. If that means delaying college for a few years to save money, so much the better—every college professor has seen the difference in maturity and focus between kids straight out of high school and those who have worked or gone into the military for a few years. The ideal is unattainable. But somehow we've got to undermine the current system whereby upper-middle-class children go to college without having to invest in it.
Murray: We have a moral obligation to destroy the current role of the B.A. in American life. It has become an emblem of first-class citizenship for no good reason.
Caplan: From a moral point of view, far too many students are going to college—just as far too many people stand up at concerts.
So what are some of these critical skills, knowledge, and attitudes that today’s employers want but students aren’t getting at college?
Most employers are looking for good communication- critical thinking- and complex reasoning skills (that which so many students lack; therefore, the majority of employers now pass over U.S. undergrads for the demanding jobs to hire those with masters degrees or foreign educations). But there is more. Since today’s graduate will change careers, not just jobs, some three to five times over a working lifetime, he or she will need to learn how to think critically, creatively, and intuitively like never before.
And I know I just mentioned creating your own business or situation, but unless you are really motivated (because it's hard out there), best to get some experience and connections under your belt before doing so, thus a job.
As mentioned previously, half of all salaries and wages in the U.S. come from the creative sector ($1.7 trillion); therefore, it is critical to be a creative problem solver / solution finder, a creator of original ideas, a creative leader--creativity being at a premium today. In addition, the very nature of the system in which we work, capitalism and its creative destruction—destruction and creation of jobs, even economic sectors—resulting in greater turnover in these most economically turbulent times, requires one to be creative. The presence of capitalism’s creative destruction is a good reason to not merely follow job trends in choosing work, never mind a career. For soon the inherent better service / product nature of capitalism will result in, for example, Net Flix making video stores like Blockbuster obsolete, Amazon forcing Boarders to close its doors, or technological advances empowering musical artists making record companies much less significant. Therefore, one must be more agile in one’s ability to not only problem solve on the job but between jobs, even between careers, or moving from one career to the next several times over.
Students must learn how to be self-educating, for more than ever before education is not institutional but individual. With corporations staying leaner than ever before in a turbulent world job market, the new worker must see herself more as an entrepreneur than employee. The individual must be 100% accountable for his education, career(s), and life like never before. She must also emphasize such skills as being adaptive, open-minded, and self-reflecting like never before. Reliance on the government for education, a single job stream for solvency, and educational institutions for guidance and all one needs in today’s complex world no longer applies. Today’s worker must be an entrepreneur, a company of one, regardless of whether an employee or employer.
So let us get more into the specifics of these ever important skills: critical, creative, intuitive thinking.
Critical thinking is the ability to go beyond surface meaning, being able to look between, above, below, and around the lines to greater, greatest understanding, evaluating and judging, going deeper, deepest to more thorough problem solving. It’s all about learning to ask the right questions.
Creative thinking is at the foundation of critical thinking; it is divergent thinking, being able to see many possible solutions to synthesize current knowledge, understanding, and experience to create a bridge of new understanding to solution.
Finally, there is intuition, creation’s cousin. Intuition, or gut instinct, is a source of understanding or insight that resides outside the individual’s conscious mind. Some say the intuitive lies inside us in the subconscious. Others say intuition lies outside of us in the divine. Regardless, because of the current increase in knowledge, complexity, and speed of change in many fields, one can hardly rely on the limited rational mind, that which has evolved little and has not kept up with the rapid technological advances.
"Intuition becomes increasingly valuable in the new information society precisely because there is so much data" John Naisbitt, best-selling author, future studies
“All human knowledge thus begins with intuitions, proceeds thence to concepts, and ends with ideas" Immanuel Kant
"The only real valuable thing is intuition" Albert Einstein
“Without creativity, knowledge would not exist” Albert Einstein
No amount of education, knowledge, or understanding will help us in many situations where problem solving is critical, for we have relatively remained the same in our capacity to take in, process, recall, and retain information while knowledge is forever increasing and technological advances proliferate. Keeping track of all this information and dealing with these rapid advances in technology adds stress, enhancing our limitations.
Consider the following example.
Because of the ever increasing knowledge gains in medicine, for example, one would think this naturally to be a good thing. The logic being that with increased knowledge there is increased chance for remedies to disease and injury. However, quite the opposite has occurred. Knowledge has increase and technology has advanced, certainly; however, the human instrument over that same time period has remained relatively the same in its extreme limitations to take in, process, and recall all this new information.
According to Dr. Atul Gawande (endocrine surgeon Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston; associate professor Harvard Medical School), “Scientists continue to report important new genetic findings, subtypes of cancer, and other diagnoses—not to mention treatments—almost weekly. The complexity is increasing so fast that even the computers cannot keep up” (The Checklist Manifesto 23). He goes on to state that it’s not just clinicians that suffer this fate but “software designers, financial managers, fire-fighters, police officers, and lawyers.” Because of this, Dr. Gawande came up with a simple, yet elegant solution: the checklist. Einstein said, "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius--and a lot of courage--to move in the opposite direction." Dr. Gawande imparts an important aspect of problem solving here. His simple solution has proved to be quite useful.
The above is one reason why 90% of employers rate “written communication, critical thinking skills, problems solving and complex reasoning as very important” (Academically Adrift). To process and analyze information, problem solve, and communicate in today’s complex and knowledge swelling world, one’s mind must be in tip top shape. However, most undergraduates don’t have the above mentioned skills and because of this are often overlooked for the more complex, better paying jobs.
Way too many students come to class today without the necessary curiosity and passion needed for learning and problem solving that is critical in today’s highly complex, quickly changing, and vast world job market. But if there is a desire to think well, to discipline the mind, it is only through consistent reading, reflecting, and researching that today’s successful student will be able to find some semblance of career(s) security. Processing, manipulating, managing knowledge, the continued working of a well-tuned mind muscle must be flexed in these complex, quick paced, multiple-career times. Great achievers have done as such, but it’s more important today to the average worker than ever before. There is greater opportunity than ever before, but the destruction and creation of jobs--jobs that are generally more interesting, rewarding, but demanding and complex than ever before--demand one to be prepared and in top notch condition.
Now that we've gained some additional insight, let’s go back to secondary and post-secondary education and take a more detailed look at current issues and concerns.
As mentioned earlier, the number of high school dropouts has reached epidemic proportions (one out of three public school students), for many are bored or don’t see the relevance between what they are learning and the real world. They know something is wrong, not quite right, but can’t put a finger on it. And few are helping them to see what is truly afoot, that their government is focusing on STEM field jobs thus only two of the eight intelligence types (linguistics and math or logic), and if certain students don’t fit the bill, it’s their loss. This is an extremely limited education considering the variety of lively options that lie outside STEM fields. And of those who do graduate and go onto college, more and more are not graduating, or if they are graduating, they are not learning.
So what’s happening? Let’s take a deeper look.
There are more career, life, even entertainment options than ever before. There is great diversity and liveliness in today’s experience, what with television and its hundreds of channels and entertainment options; movies with tremendously appealing and fanciful visuals; the interactive Internet with its social media and video sites in which the average person becomes the involved creator; the wide variety of theme parks; and so much more. Yet to a great degree, we still teach our children the same knowledge we always have with little curriculum modernization in content or delivery, as well as to the greatest degree keep our kids in a passive, non-creative, lack of control state of being. Autonomy, as a reminder, is that which enables not only greater learning but optimized knowledge acquisition and retention, creativity, and personal accountability and responsibility, that which is most needed by today's worker / entrepreneur. To feed our economies today, we must enable this active, creative, reflective student in the class room. The passive student is passé. In one experiment by a Duke University professor, she had students interact on a blog, commenting on each other’s writing. Interestingly, she found that without the teacher there, or having to do more restrictive, less interesting, less subjective essays, they thrived, doing some of what she discovered was their best writing.
With all this stimulation and the need to sit for hours in boring classrooms, should we wonder why so many kids in recent years have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder?
In our secondary schools, if children are found not to be interested or able to pay attention in class, an attention deficit diagnosis is assigned and the appropriate drugs prescribed, drugs that often, like most drugs, have serious side effects often creating outcomes worse than the alleged disease they are attempting to remedy. Even in general society, if one is depressed or unable to focus and concentrate, drugs are often seen as the answer. The number of over-the-counter drug commercials on television and in print media today reveals our nations comfort with the prescription. Apparently, there is a great disturbance in our youth. They can’t sit and listen, and they are so discontent with education that they are dropping out in record numbers. What is going on?
Considering that the third leading cause of death for those ages 15-24 is suicide, one must ask the question, why? There is an excess lack of motivation, hope, and commitment to education today. A great cause for suicide is a lack of understanding, a sense of drifting without purpose. In 2011, Academically Adrift came out speaking to the issue of the serious decline of higher education. A key point from the book that I’d like to focus on here is that “students stay in prolonged states of directionless shift, delay characterized more by indecision than motivated reflection, confusion than the pursuit of clear goals, ambivalence than determination” William Damon, psychologist.
Anyone who is young and inexperienced, who is “directionless,” full of “indecision,” “confusion,” and “ambivalence” has a greater tendency than not to lose hope. What needs to be done is to provide that hope, meaning that we need to define, explain, and inform what this thing education is really all about to the deepest level possible, the nature of the economic system they will work in, and possible difficulties and encounters in career and life that will arise. A more informed person is a more secure person; knowledge is power; and so forth.
I provide that service to my college students and clients, and you’ve never seen such an attentive, rapt group, learning things that are fundamentally true and critical to understanding to lessen indecision, confusion, and ambivalence, but unfortunately are rarely addressed. Students, the young and uninformed, need to know more about the second most important commitment to time, money, and effort that they will make in their lives--career only second to family. If we are not as transparent as we can be about education, giving as thorough an explanation to its in-and-outs in minute detail as possible, then we do them a great injustice and disservice. We are simply contributing to their confusion, ambivalence, directionless, and indecision.
Contributing factors to public high school dropout rates also has to do with the economy, where financial survival takes precedence over education. One of the core issues being the economy, of course. Education takes a back seat when mom and / or dad lose their jobs and the only chance of survival is the of-age children going to work. But the high divorce rate doesn’t help either what with there being two households to pay for rather than one. I could go on, but these are some of the major concerns.
At the college level, maximizing the student’s understanding of education and what it means is imperative, and the economy’s effects are equally as upsetting to college students, but there are some concerns regarding higher education that differ from those of high school.
What are some of the key issues affecting students today that are directly related to colleges and universities?
Some of the low graduation rate and diminished learning can certainly be blamed on universities that reward faculty more for scholarly pursuits than teaching under-graduates, but students must take some of the blame as well. The learning that is not happening can be attributed to students who have learned to “manage” their education, often taking easier classes or teachers who require less work for good grades or those that can be manipulated by students. Most of this change has occurred over the last couple decades as a result of money changing hands. Instead of money going to universities, now it goes to the inexperienced student-consumer in the form of financial aid, students who often merely go to college by default because it is the thing to do or that which his or her parents, peers, or society has advocated. Thus the student is not properly motivated and sees “college” as an obstacle to simply be navigated as quickly as possible (Academically Adrift).
But another reason for this is that no longer is a degree seen as a “sure thing” to a job and steady career; as a matter of fact, as mentioned previously, there are more with degrees than there are job openings that require a degree. This in itself is creating a lot of anxiety, doubt, and confusion.
The above lack of learning has resulted in more and more employers complaining that those with a U.S. bachelor’s degree do not have the necessary critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing / communication skills needed for more complex, demanding jobs. As a matter of fact, it has gotten so bad that many employers in the states have relegated rudimentary non-technical jobs to those with U.S. bachelors while hiring those with graduate degrees or from foreign sources for more rigorous, higher paying positions (Academically Adrift). I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.
So what’s the result of all this?
Many business leaders are concerned that today’s graduates don’t have the skills to ensure economic competitiveness. As mentioned previously, it is technology and science that drives the U.S. economies. STEM careers require complex and critical thinking skills. But even educators believe that recent organizational changes have undermined core education functions.
“Colleges and universities, for all the benefits they bring, accomplish far less for their students than they should. Many students graduate without being able to write well enough to satisfy their employers . . . reason clearly or perform competently in analyzing complex, non-technical problems” Derek Bok, former president of Harvard
“The quality of student learning in U.S. colleges and universities is inadequate, and in some cases, declining” Secretary Commission on Higher Education: A Test of Leadership
It’s complex and may take years before any substantial inroads are made by colleges and universities and the government into solving core issues, if they come at all. Here is a quick look at why change is not forthcoming. The statements all come from "Where Will Innovation Begin?" by Jeff Selingo, editorial director of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Mel Schiavelli, a former provost and interim president at the College of William and Mary, and a former provost at the University of Delaware, has recently come up with an innovate approach to higher education. He is the president at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.
First, there are "No departments. Academic departments are silos built by faculty members to further their research and careers." Second, no tenure. And finally, no frills to cut costs: no campus (a single building), sports teams or dormitories. When Seligo asked Schiavelli if any of these innovations or similar ideas could be used at other existing universities, he states “So much of the debate about higher education in this country is driven by R1 research universities and their research needs. It’s not about teaching, and it’s not about the needs of today’s students.”
Seligo also states that "innovation just can't happen at new universities. The last thing this country needs is more universities." But because many administrators are afraid of losing students or investors, change, if it does come, will come too slow and too late for many students.
But the problem is that students in college now, and those shortly to come, don’t have the luxury of waiting. And that is why I and others in the private sector are coming forth with solutions today. It is critical that students are, first, made aware of the core issues of education—defining what the govt. and colleges define it as, and then specifically matching the student’s basic talents, gifts, abilities to the student’s definition of education—discovering what employers needs are, and then matching the student to the particular career, industry, and specific environment she can thrive in while supplying her with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes for adaptability. Making students the center of understanding, creating greater awareness of the true nature of education, and setting them up as self-sustaining, self-educators not mostly reliant on institutions is critical to not only overcome current education issues, but to enable their ability to thrive in these complex, volatile world job market times.
What’s the effect of not enabling students NOW with the tools they need to succeed?
“Many students come to college poorly prepared for highly demanding academic tasks . . . But, more troubling still, they enter college with attitudes, norms, values, and behaviors that are often at odds with academic commitment” Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, Academically Adrift
It is critical that students have a razor sharp, focused plan based in a solid understanding of the current education and economic environment, so that they can obtain maximum motivation, stick to a plan and carry it out. In addition they must have extensive hands-on and book knowledge about their chosen occupation, the educational requirements, and future demands for chosen occupation, as limited as that foreknowledge may be.
But what also has to be instilled in students are a serious understanding of values, morals, and ethics. These things used to be taught, like what you saw in The Social Network, the Winklevoss’ treating Zuckerberg with kid gloves even though he is the offender. They felt it wasn’t like a “Harvard man” to attack another Harvard man.
Colleges and universities used to teach values but have not done so for some time. Therefore, we can look at an indicator of how this has affected students. Consider that from 1963 to 1993 admitted cheating of students went from 26 to 52%. Employers do not want those steeped in cheating, cutting corners, and dishonesty working for their organization. So it is critical that students learn necessary values for today and the future: honesty, accountability, appreciation, awareness, commitment, completion, consistency, cooperation, decisiveness, duty, efficiency, fairness, generosity, and so forth.
So what else is there regarding education that is wreaking havoc with today’s student? How about the financials of the here and now into work and retirement?
Considering that total college loan debt has gone up 25% from 2008 to 2011, $440 to $550 billion, should give you a clue. Today, like never before, the American Dream is not being fulfilled by college but destroying it in debt. More and more grads are running not only into insurmountable debt, but with the rise in the cost of living and tax rates, decrease in savings rates, and deflated salaries that experts say won't recover until 2021, it is getting more and more difficult to get by on merely a job alone. How many students getting into a major have even a clue what their chosen career will provide for the short- and long term into retirement? Students should at least have some idea of the financial situation to come, as only a common courtesy to the student, of course.
But what do students know about achievement and success? Overcoming difficulties and trials in work and life that they will certainly have? What about setting goals and understanding how to overcome failures so as to not give up? Learning how to ask the right questions for greater problem solving in career and life? Overcoming poor, debilitating habits and weaknesses that will take down a career or life quicker than you can say, failed thinking? Learning proper attitudes needed to achieve and maintain success? How to be productive, accountable, pro-active, committed, persistent, present, self-sustaining, self-educated, motivated, focused, self-inquiring (the intuitive to greater, greatest achievement, happiness, and joy). And more.
What are the three key principles to greatest motivation and achievement?
According to motivational expert, Dan Pink, they are autonomy (ability to maximize self-choosing), mastery, and purpose, as mentioned previously. To obtain the later two you need the former. And as one looks to mastery and purpose, she will find her innate skills, abilities, talents, gifts, and desires and fulfill them in a purpose that will be discovered to greatest happiness and joy, to the tune of not only the family and self but all those she comes in contact with. And as she does so, she will discover the inert in her, character and passion, not previously seen but only learned of by taking risk in serving self-interest to the maximization of the individual and all those she comes in contact with. And as she does so, she begins to expand, exponentially if she learns to always challenger herself and grow in this power evolving universe to produce greatly for self and the hundreds, thousands, millions she comes in contact with as she grows as nature desires it, exponentially coming to the aid of self and society as best she can.
Most fail because they never prepared “themselves for the harsh lessons the Creator set for them on life’s path to strengthen their spirit and make them fit for life. Unlike the warrior who accepts harsh discipline as a privilege and honor, these people are like pieces of grain caught in a millstone, ground down by the wheel of life in agony and pain” Chin-ning Chu, author of Thick Face Black Heart
We all desire magic in our lives; it is an innate desire for all, yet few believe it can happen to them. It is always for someone else. But in those quite times, during the day or at night before sleep takes over, we know deep in our hearts that we all desire the greatest, deepest, most satisfying, life quenching fulfillment that we could ever imagine and more. It is out there for everyone. Belief in it must be practiced over and again, as Neo did in the Matrix. He is the One or savior, but upon asking the Oracle if he is she states, “You have the gift, but you seem to be waiting for something,” as most of us are. But we all must be brave and reach forth, to practice in our minds, as Neo does in virtual reality or the matrix, and then take it to the real world, as Neo does later in the trilogy taking down a machine with the wave of a hand.
It is all up to us and it is within us, so we must be to the greatest degree self-educating, self-sustaining and maintaining. We must look within to find our genius, our unique roadmap to success and greater, greatest achievement.
Don’t let life happen to you, let you happen to life. If you are selfish, lazy, hopeless, fearful, doubtful, anxious, shy, unproductive, irresponsible, immature . . . practice overcoming. I have. Growing up I was shy, introverted, hopeless, anxious, angry, depressed, suicidal, addictive, but I overcame through taking the hard road, the challenging road turning 180 degrees from fully unproductive to maximized productivity of unrelenting, razor sharp, focus, commitment, integrity, and honesty.
“Most commonly accepted standards of behavior are arbitrary, and the arbitrators themselves are often flawed individuals who, under the guise of virtue, have perpetuated their own weaknesses and fear” Chin-ning Chu
Be aware of truth in perspective and understanding. Become an empowered seer of truth and understanding so that you are able to do whatever you know you need to do to obtain your goals, righteously and honorably, without allowing what others do and say detract or hinder you in any way. YOU are in charge, for people will believe what you broadcast to the world, and what you broadcast, that which everyone sees first and foremost, is your inner value. Your character, intelligence, spirit, and soul. Create value in yourself and pass that value onto the world. Don’t take short cuts or any one else’s’ path. You are unique and put here for a reason. Discover it. Nurture it. Embrace it. And follow it to the greatest life imagined. But don’t focus on what makes you feel good but what will make you great, which often entails great sacrifice and doing the unlikeable and unwanted to greater character, empowerment, and strength.
Good luck. Good education and career. And god bless.
If I can help with anything, please don’t hesitate to call.
Peace!
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